Here is a short photo tour of three out-of-the-way chapels in Minnesota that are dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
GRASSHOPPER CHAPEL, COLD SPRING MN
(Dedicated to Mariä Himmelfahrt or the Assumption)
Last summer, while driving back from an afternoon birthday tea for my mother, the idea came to me to visit the Grasshopper Chapel at Cold Spring. Upon reaching Cold Spring and crossing over the Sauk River, I took a right off of Hwy 23 which quickly led me to Chapel Hill Street and to a wooded drive that winds its way up to the Grasshopper Chapel atop a hill overlooking Cold Spring. The abundance of shade trees and foliage permits only patches of direct sunlight to illumine the rough granite exterior and burnt red roofing of the chapel.
Let’s go inside for a look. In contrast to the rough stone exterior, one enters a dark interior of polished red granite. Inscribed in the east wall are the words of the ANGELUS, a series of verses and responses mainly from the gospel of St. Luke. Curiously, this engraving leaves out the words of the Angel Gabriel, “Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women” (Luke 1:28 KJV).
Let’s go inside for a look. In contrast to the rough stone exterior, one enters a dark interior of polished red granite. Inscribed in the east wall are the words of the ANGELUS, a series of verses and responses mainly from the gospel of St. Luke. Curiously, this engraving leaves out the words of the Angel Gabriel, “Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women” (Luke 1:28 KJV).
The altar is positioned ad orientem (for prayer facing east), and is adorned with plastic flowers which retain their ever-immaculate state. High above the altar is a queenly Virgin bearing the Christ Child, in a state of Germanic elegance – one of the most beautiful I’ve seen of this style.
Of the stained glass windows, I chose this one (shown below) as my favorite. The dove represents the angel’s words to Mary in St. Luke 1:35ff, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee…” The Latin words in the window, “et exsultavit spiritus meus,” are, of course, from Mary’s canticle, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.” A harp is depicted in the window because the Magnificat is sung prayer.
The Grasshopper Chapel at Cold Spring is the outgrowth of a curious history. This part of central Minnesota endured grasshopper plagues in the 1870s which left crops devastated in their wake. The people of nearby Jacobs Prairie and St. Nicholas vowed to build a chapel on that hill and to pray for deliverance from the swarms of Rocky Mountain grasshoppers. According to the narrative provided by the St. Boniface Parish web site, those measures of devotion warded off the pestilence. http://www.stboniface.com/parish/assumption-chapel.htm
Though the farmers of central Minnesota survived the grasshopper menace, their little wooden chapel was wiped away by the 1894 tornado, which also destroyed much of our campus at St. John’s. I suppose that if Psalm 104:26 proclaims that God made monsters to play with, it may follow that God also made grasshoppers and tornados to play with. Yet, in 1951, under the direction of our confrere, Fr. Victor Ronellenfitsch, OSB, the present Grasshopper Chapel was built, and it hasn’t been bothered since by any grasshoppers, tornados, leviathans, or even an occasional wholly mammoth.
For historical accounts of a more scholarly perspective, consult Harvest of grief: grasshopper plagues and public assistance in Minnesota 1873-78 (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1984) by Annette Atkins of the CSB/SJU history department. Or click on the following article http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/catholic_historical_review/v092/92.2gross.pdf
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MARIA CHAPEL, AITKIN COUNTY, MN
It would be interesting to discover and visit other out-of-the-way chapels dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Another such chapel that I have heard about, but have not yet visited, is the MARIA CHAPEL, on Diamond Lake, about 6 miles southeast of Aitkin MN. It is a log structure (now apparently covered with wood siding) which was built by Swedish Lutherans in 1899. When the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Maria Church merged with St. Pauli Church in Aitkin in the 1930s (now First Lutheran, ELCA), the log structure became “Maria Chapel.” The photo below is from the chapel’s website http://flc.charterinternet.com/mariaChapel.htm
Opening Prayer (Collect) for August 15 in the Lutheran Book of Worship:
Almighty God, you chose the virgin Mary to be the mother of your only Son. Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her in the glory of your eternal kingdom; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
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STELLA MARIS CHAPEL, SAINT JOHN’S ABBEY
It is all the more fortunate that we have, perhaps, the most idyllic Marian chapel in all of Minnesota, the Stella Maris Chapel which graces Lake Sagatagan. I wonder if the monks who built and named this chapel got its poetic name from the Vesper hymn “Ave, maris stella” (of 8th or 9th century origin). The name of this chapel, Stella Maris (Latin for star of the sea), has also caused me to wonder how Mary would have acquired that title and image.
The imagery of the “morning star” (the sun) in reference to Christ finds expression in the prophecy of Zechariah (Luke 1:68ff.), “the dawn from on high will break upon us” (as sung in the morning canticle, the Benedictus). That image emerges again as a “prophetic message” in 1 Peter 1:19, “…be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” Of course, that theme goes straight to the heart whenever the Christmas chorale, “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern” (How brightly shines the morning star) resonates in the ears. Christians have considered the “morning star” to be of prophetic origin, relating it to the star of Jacob found in Numbers 24:17 (the 4th oracle of Balaam).
Well then, how does Mary figure as a star? If Christ has been likened to the day luminary (i.e., the day star, the sun, the morning star), it seems that Mary, in her femininity, has been aligned with the luminaries of the night. The most enduring example would be “a woman clothed with the sun [that is clothed with Christ], with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Revelation 12:1). Of course, that woman is us, the bride, the church, which Mary has come to personify through the ages. Like stars, we are Abraham’s descendants past counting (Gen. 15), of which Mary sang, “according to the promise made to our ancestors, to Abraham and his descendents forever” (Luke 1:55).
When I go canoeing at night, my imagination looses itself amid the field of stars above. Kathleen Norris’ words from her poem, Vigil and Feast of the Assumption, find their way into my thoughts, “…it is full-to-bursting, as big as the starstuff of which we’re made. That is why the dragon waits…However, it ends, it begins with us, this feast by which we come to see how beautiful we are.” (Kathleen Norris, Little Girls in Church, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1995).
“For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light.” (Ephesians 5:8).
If you know of any other out-of-the-way chapels dedicated to the Mother of Our Lord in Minnesota, please pass along that information in case it may lead to a pilgrimage and photo excursion.
Brother Paul Jasper
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